Follow the trials and tribulations of the New York Knights in the United States Chess League

Saturday, September 5, 2009

First Match Recap, Annotated Games, and Inflammatory Remarks

The Knight's bones are dust,And his good sword rust.His soul is with the saints,I trust.

-Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English lyrical poet, 1772-1834

Even though I prefer unearthing quotes related to victorious Knights, as opposed to vanquished ones, I still thought Coleridge's poignant stanza deserved a place atop this blog post. This is a blog where readers are encouraged to laugh, and learn, at the same time.

The Knights lost an extremely close match to the New Jersey Knockouts. There were no reported mouseslip incidents.

Matt Herman humbly submitted some annotations to his loss against NM Shen. These annotations are presented below, completely unedited. I have made intermittent jokes at Matt's expense.

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g3 a6 7. Bg2 d6 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. O-O Nf6 10. Re1 e5 11. Na4 Be6 12. b3 Be7 13. c4 O-O 14. f4 d5!!?Played after a half hour think, this thematic counterstrike was necessary to prevent black's position from being overrun15. f5 Other captures were against the demands of the position and would have allowed black to achieve significant piece play. If 15. fe Ng4! and black had the terrible threat of Qa715. ... Bd7 16. g4 Bb4! This move looked incorrect, as it drew the bishop away from the kingside, and exposed it to trapping themes with c4-c5. It transpired that active counterplay, preventing white from slowly building an initiative and controlling the d2(!) square were sufficient justification for the clerical jaunt. (Clerical jaunt is a pretentious way of saying a bishop moved. -Evan) 17. Re3 Rad8! Brilliantly calm. (This comment is not really necessary, but Matt is struggling to justify his loss. -Evan) 18. Qe2! I was convinced black's position was critical, as 18. ..Ne4 19. Be4 de 20.c5 traps the bishop. If 18. ... Be7, white calmly builds with Re3-h3, Bc1-e3,Ra1-f1, g4-g5 and can swing Na4-c3-e2-g3 and sac on h5 whenever black plays g6/h5 to clog the file 18. ... Nxe4! 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. a3? ... 20. c5!? Qa5! 21. Qc2 Bc8! 22. Re2 would have been met by 22. ..Rd5 23. Be3 Rad8 and black survives, though a fresh battle emerges after 24. Qe4. If 21. Qc4, black had the ridiculous 21. ..Bf5! and would have ended up no worse after the complications. That said, c5 would have transformed the contest and was probably the right practical decision. The idea of a3 was to allow the Na4 to swing back to the kingside, where it would have been needed to sacrifice on h5 and prevent black from making inroads on d220. ... Be7 21. Rh3 c5!Black's resource on move 23 allows him to untangle 22. Nc3 Bc6! The Bd7 has been standing watch against g4-g5 but could now pull off the Indiana Jones "idol switch" with the Qc7 (This is a really obscure Indiana Jones reference, and I could not be more pleased Matt decided to include it in his chess game annotations -Evan) 23. g5 {Threatening 24. Rh7!} Qd7!Only move! If Shen saw this on move 16, my hat is off (It is customary for men to remove their hats as a sign of respect and/or admiration. This is not to be confused with glove removal, which indicates a departure from civility with the intention to win at all costs. -Evan) 24. Qg4 {24. Rh7 Qf5!} g6! 25. Qh4 h5 26. f6 Qd4+! 27. Re3 Bd6Unfortunately, Ra2-d2 drops the R on e3. Black is effectively winning 28. Qg3 Bc7 29. Ra2 Qd7 30. Rae2 Qf5 31. Rf2 Qe6 32. Rfe2 Rd3 33. Qf2 ...33. Ne4 Be4 34. Rd3 Bd3 35. Qd3 is significantly better for black, but this lost immediately33. ... Rfd8 34. h3? Rxc3 35. Rxc3 Rd1+ 0-1

Here are the remaining games from the match. There is no commentary, only Informator like stone cold analysis. This can be improved on in a number of ways, including me learning how to negotiate certain chess software, upload chess diagrams, and become an overall better person.

Our next match is Tuesday, September 8, at 9:00 EST against the Seattle Sluggers. I have no knowledge of potential lineups. I am unaware of any preparation the Knights are intending. I know that there might be conflicts because certain Knight team members have really important fantasy football drafts. Based on that, here are my predictions for the match:

-If Matt Herman plays he will drink upwards of 15-17 cups of Marshall Chess Club homebrewed coffee.-If Pascal Charbonneau plays, his sister Anne-Marie, who is in town visiting, will probably stop by and say hello. -If Jay Bonin plays, he will make a sentimental reference to the Sword and Shield that was irresponsibly thrown away by club management.-If Raven Sturt plays, it is because I decided that my fantasy football draft is more important. But for the sake of posterity, Raven is way better than me at chess.-If John Fernandez shows up, he will be stressed out, but maintain a pleasant disposition nonetheless.

I hope the USCL will invent an award for the most "unusually measured" blog. Because whoever wins it will be showered with unusually measured praise by me, sustaining a season long neutral attitude and occasional silly jokes.